Fleecing: Nigerians still groan under foreign airlines high fares
Despite fall in the price of crude oil which consequently led to the fall of the price of aviation fuel in the international market, foreign airlines who have always used the high cost of aviation fuel in Nigeria as excuse to charge high fares, continue to charge Nigerians going to Europe, or any destination, astronomical fares compared to what these same airlines charge travelers in other parts of the world.
What reasons do the foreign airlines have for these arbitrary charges? One of the reasons given by the representatives and spokespersons of these foreign airlines when interviewed by Saturday Vanguard was that the operating environment in Nigeria is very harsh and this is making them take some harsh decisions. ADVERTISING German carrier, Lufthansa Airlines, Air France, Dutch carrier, KLM, Turkish Airways, British Airways, amongst others, are all guilty of charging astronomical fares.
Nigerians have been wondering why a Nigerian travelling from either Lagos or Abuja to London pay more for travelling for less number of hours of flight than a Ghanaian flying for more hours to the same destination, for example, London, Heathrow. Saturday Vanguard discovered that , for instance, a Nigerian travelling in the First Class cabin of British Airways is made to pay between “ $9,285 and $10,070 to fly 5001km in 5hrs 55mins into Heathrow, depending on the season, as there are high and low seasons, the Ghanaian pays less than half of that, about $4,943 to fly 5,096.79km in 6hrs 55mins.
Aviation fuel plays a key role here and it is simple mathematics that the aircraft would burn more fuel flying longer hours”. “Similarly, the Nigerian traveller from Lagos or Abuja to London pays about $7,367 to fly the Club Class cabin Virgin Atlantic Airways, as there is no First Class cabin in the airline, but the Ghanaian pays $4,136 for same journey in the same class cabin”. This unequal fare regime is not limited to British carriers; other European airlines are guilty of the same practice. Nigeria, other African countries most expensive places for airline business – IATA Vanguard
